From Wednesday, August 27th to Friday, August 29th, the new members of the faculty and staff gathered for their orientation to life at Xavier. This year’s cohort includes seven teachers including several who are maternity leave replacements, two administrative assistants and four alumni volunteers. A broad range of veteran teachers, administrators and staff collaborated to provide a warm welcome, a thoughtful introduction to the characteristics of Jesuit education and Xavier’s mission, and a comprehensive explanation of what their new colleagues need to know in order to be successful right away. In one of the most important sessions of the orientation, the first year educators spent a few hours with a collection of current Xavier students. They met for a guided conversation about life at Xavier from a student’s perspective, celebrated Mass together in the Student Chapel and shared lunch with one another in Spinello Lounge. Ms. Alexis Walker, a new English teacher, commented “the students were incredibly mature, articulate and insightful.” She went on to say that “the time with them was a highlight of the orientation for me.”

The overall goal of the orientation is to help educators feel at home from the start and to free them to do their best work by giving them as much support as possible. Xavier wants its first year faculty and staff to bring an infusion of new energy, ideas and enthusiasm to the entire school community. People are empowered to imagine how they will animate Xavier’s mission through their work. In reflecting on his orientation experience, Mr. Jose Aquino ’07, a new teacher in the Religion and Foreign Language departments, emphasized the transformative nature of education at Xavier. “Xavier is my home. It is where I first dreamed of being a teacher. I am honored to be part of a school fostering the principles of Jesuit education, anchored by the determination and discipline of its faculty and administration and most of all its student body.” This school year will inspire creativity in teachers and students alike. The new members of the faculty and staff are ready to make an important contribution to Xavier’s success. Profiles of the new faculty will appear in future editions of the E-News.